240 THE NATURALIST IX NICARAGUA. [Ch. XIII. 



garlands and bouquets. It lias been carried to Greytown 

 and the West Indies ; and wherever it flourishes, it is 

 a great favourite. 



About a mile down the valley we reached the small 

 town of Jinotega, and put up at the estanco kept by a 

 very polite and dignified elderly gentleman, who, in the 

 customary phrase of the country, placed himself, his 

 house, and all he possessed, at our service. His wife, 

 a bustling young woman, not more than half the age of 

 her husband, set to work at once to get our dinner ready. 

 There were several women-servants and many children 



*/ 



about the house It was kept cleaner than is usual in 

 Nicaragua, and I noticed in the yard behind that some 

 attempt at drainage had been made. Our host appeared 

 to be in comfortable circumstances outside the town he 

 had a small farm where he grew maize and wheat. He 

 complained greatly of the drought, and said it had never 

 occurred before in his recollection that the maize had 

 failed in Jinotega for want of rain. He found us a man 

 who promised to supply us with mules or horses to take 

 us to Ocotal, but as they had to be brought up from the 

 " Campos " or plains he could not let us have them early, 

 and it was ten o'clock the next day before we started 

 again. 



Whilst waiting for the mules we strolled around the 

 town. In the centre most of the houses are substantially 

 built and tiled ; on the outskirts they are small grass- 

 thatched huts with high-pitched roofs. Wheat, maize, 

 potatoes, and beans are the principal things grown. 

 Many of the people have light sandy coloured hair and 

 blue eyes, and I thought at first they might be the 

 offspring of a number of Americans that settled in Jino- 



